Metro Fiction: Open for Submissions

When I heard about Metro Moms Network’s new fiction section, and that it is edited by long time Friday Flash member P.J. Kaiser, I was beyond pleased – I was overjoyed. P.J. is a wonderful writer and one of the most pleasant and giving people on the web. If you don’t know her be sure to visit her blog, Inspired by Real Life, and spend some quality time. I contacted P.J. right away and asked if she would be so kind as to do a guest post for us here at FFDO. She has graciously agreed. So please welcome P.J., read her post, and then go check out Metro Fiction. ~jon

Metro Fiction: Open for Submissions
by P.J. Kaiser

I am pleased to announce that Metro Fiction is officially open for submissions. We are a paying market and we are looking for your very best flash fiction. Interested? Read on…

Metro Fiction is the fiction column at Metro Moms Network. I am the editor and my editorial advisor is the multi-talented Debra Marrs. An important component of the Metro Moms Network is the online magazine which provides content aimed at urban parents across many content areas including topics related to both parenting and work-life. Metro Moms Network supports all mothers (and dads, too!), but particularly those who are starting up small businesses or doing freelancing work. The Metro Moms Consulting Network meets once a month and serves as part brainstorming session and part support group for entrepreneurial-minded moms. Metro Moms Network also hosts an annual parenting expo and other events throughout the year.

But the focus of my post is Metro Fiction. This is the part of Metro Moms Network that’s purely for fun. We encourage our moms to take time for themselves. By publishing our stories on Sundays when a partner or other caregiver might be able to watch the kids, we hope to help facilitate a healthy reading addiction.

Submissions for Feature Stories were closed when we launched, but we have decided to open submissions effective immediately. We pay semi-professional rates and although we are still growing our audience, we feel that we provide a great opportunity to find new readers for your work. And the most exciting part? We have plans to expand the Metro Moms Network into additional regional sites and to produce e-book and print magazines which are all opportunities to extend the audience for our writers.

Let’s talk genres. As we see in the Friday Flash report each week, flash fiction covers a wide range of genres. We are interested in seeing most of it at Metro Fiction. I want our readers to never know quite what to expect. I also want them to know that if they read something that isn’t their cup of tea, they can come back for the following story and be delighted. I can mainly define what we’re looking for by telling you what we’re not looking for. We’re not looking for stories that are too dark, too horror-y, or too tragic. Our readers are looking to take a break and be entertained, not be creeped out or traumatized. You will see our detailed guidelines on the submission page.

I’d like to encourage everybody to stop by and have a look. If you have something ready, please submit. If not, then keep us in mind as you’re writing future stories. We do not accept reprints, but we allow an exception for pieces posted on your personal blog more than six months prior to submission.

Thanks to members of the Friday Flash community for your support of Metro Fiction during our incubation and launch. And thanks to Jon Strother for the invitation to come and tell you guys about Metro Fiction.

Please let me know any questions you may have in the comments. We look forward to reading your submissions!

P.J. Kaiser is the editor at Metro Fiction, the fiction column at the Metro Moms Network. She stays at home in Hoboken, New Jersey with her two children and writes and edits between loads of laundry. She writes mostly short fiction and hasn’t settled on a genre yet. She has been published in various anthologies including “Best of Friday Flash Vol. 1,” and one of the “Literary Mix Tapes” anthologies from eMergent Publishing: “Nothing But Flowers.” She can be found at her blog “Inspired by Real Life.”